Basurko and Shiraishi - ready for Velux 5 Oceans

by Kate Fairclough on 19 Oct 2006 Unai Basurko and Kojiro Shiraishi, two of the skippers currently in Bilbao making last minute preparations before the start of the world’s ultimate solo challenge, the single-handed VELUX 5 OCEANS, have more in common than they might think. Each inspired as youngsters by fellow countrymen in the world of yachting, and now alone representing their respective countries, Unai (ESP) and Kojiro (JPN) have very unique stories to tell behind their journeys to the startline of the VELUX 5 OCEANS this coming Sunday afternoon.

Unai Basurko, 33, based in Bizkaia - the host start and finish region of the VELUX 5 OCEANS - credits Spanish skipper José Luis de Ugarte, as the man who inspired him to enter the world of yachting. Ugarte, who in 1988 sailed Open 60 Castrol Solo in the Carlsberg Transatlantic Race, finished 17th in a fleet of 73 yachts. In the 1990-91 edition of the VELUX 5 OCEANS, Basurko’s emotional connection with solo sailing magnified as he watched Ugarte and Australian skipper, Kanga Birtles, race each other round the planet. While Ugarte provided friendship and encouragement for the young Basque, Birtles would supply practical experience and a first taste of double-handed sailing in the 1998 Trans Tasman Race. Winning this event from Australia to New Zealand confirmed Basurko’s passion and dreams for single-handed racing: in the skipper’s own words, 'By then, I was in love with this type of sailing.'

While the Spaniard has invaluable experience having raced in all positions on a wide variety of crewed boats, his commitment to single-handed sailing led to entering the intensely competitive Solitaire du Figaro in 2003 with future ambitions for the VELUX 5 OCEANS and, eventually, the 2008 Vendée Globe. With a brand new Open 60, designed and built by in Australia, Basurko had his first taste of long-distance, solo sailing on the 20,000 mile delivery voyage and VELUX 5 OCEANS pre-race qualifying passage from Australia to Spain. Six weeks in the South Pacific, a month in calm conditions around the Equator and a further month crossing the Atlantic to Bilbao was an invaluable proving ground: 'There were very different conditions, in all the oceans and we've learnt a lot along the way, getting to know each other, the boat and I becoming closer friends,' the skipper explains.

Basurko’s Basque, maritime background, immense support from his nation and three brothers, a sister and 65-year-old father who all sail, provide this skipper with a strong emotional link to the ocean: 'Sailing alone' he comments, 'it is perhaps the perfect union between sea, boat and man.'

Shiraishi, who has one of the strongest and longest connections with the VELUX 5 OCEANS of all the skippers competing, looks set to be one of the front-runners in this solo circumnavigation. Having graduated with qualifications in commercial fishing, the 20 year-old ‘Koji’ became apprentice to Japan’s legendary single-handed sailor, the Tokyo taxi driver, Yukoh Tada, class winner of the first BOC Challenge (the first edition of the VELUX 5 OCEANS) in 1982. Mesmerised by Tada’s character and unique approach to solo sailing, Koji signed on as shore crew for his mentor during the 1990 race. After Tada’s death, Koji experienced single-handing for the first time, delivering his sailing tutor’s 50ft yacht, Okera VII, from Australia to Japan.

Born and raised within reach of the sea in Kamakura, Koji knew he was destined for a life of involvement with the ocean: a certainty that led to his qualification as a ship’s engineer. In 1994, however, Koji’s potential career path took a dramatic change in direction: having refitted the late Yukoh Tada’s yacht, at the age of 26 he became the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe single-handed, non-stop, aboard the renamed Spirit of Yukoh in a time of 176 days. With this immense challenge behind him, Shiraishi embarked upon entering and organising tough and demanding adventure races on land and sea: in 1995 he travelled to Canada and the US competing in the Eco-Challenge Race and finished 11th in South Africa’s extreme and physically punishing 1997 Raid Gauloises. The following year, Koji crewed for the French offshore racing legend, Bruno Peyron, setting a new

Yokohama-San Francisco record on board the maxi-catamaran, Explorer, before representing Japan during the

2000 Camel Trophy in Tonga and Samoa.

Entered for the 2002-2003 Around Alone race, Koji overcame dramatic, structural problems on board his new Open 40, Spirit of Yukoh, sustained during the pre-race delivery from Japan to Rhode Island, America, finishing the circumnavigation 4th overall in Class 2. For the VELUX 5 OCEANS, he has purchased Dominique Wavre’s fast and strong Open 60, Temenos, adapting and refining the Swiss solo skipper’s immaculately prepared yacht. Aware that solo sailing has a strong European foundation, Koji has appointed a highly experienced Anglo-French team as shore crew for the race and will rely upon their accumulated knowledge and his own sailing skill and prodigious endurance during the VELUX 5 OCEANS.

With ambitions for a podium place, his combination of acute mental focus through on board meditation, his vast technical expertise coupled with a powerful yacht and well organised racing campaign make Koji one to watch in this race.

Basurko, the ‘local hero’ of Bilbao, the VELUX 5 OCEANS host city, and Unai, whose mission is to go ‘from Japan to the world’ will both line up against the six other skippers on the race startline this Sunday, 22nd October at 1300.